Imagine This is a book that does more than just tell a story; it takes the reader on a voyage of discovery.

Abandoned by her father and separated from her brother, Lola must adjust to living without the basic necessities, where a drink of water entails a six-mile trek to the bushes. Unable to speak the language and spurned by her relatives, Lola struggles to find her identity in a place where she doesn’t quite fit. Faced with challenges that would cow a lesser person, Lola chronicles her plight in her journal.

The backdrop maybe a turbulent Nigeria of the 70s and 80s, but the issues the book tackles are universal; the coming of age, the courage to face obstacles head-on, finding the strength to move forward in the face of overwhelming odds, the role of personal responsibility and so much more.

Although sometimes bleak and harrowing, Imagine This is told with a feistiness and humour that provokes empathy towards Lola as she moves from childhood to adulthood, searching for love and acceptance and coming to terms with the hardest thing of all, loss.

Imagine This won the Commonwealth Prize for best first book for the Africa region in 2008.